I am writing this article after finally having some time to wipe out the dual booting Vista-Ubuntu 7.10 and install a dual boot Vista-Ubuntu 8.04 with long-term support (LTS) and thought I would give you a perspective.

As a matter of background, I have a HP Pavillion quad core with 3 GB of RAM, a terabyte hard drive, and more than enough power for what I need. It's not top of the range, but still, has a fair bit of grunt.

The philosophy behind Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution, is that it is a "free" operating system for the end user. Most people (including me) felt that Ubuntu, like any Linux, was terminal operated, ie, a user had to execute commands rather than point and click, like the more popular Windows systems. Linux is also built around the requirement for using an operating system on older machines.

I first tried Linux at the back end of 2007 and was fairly happy with it. It lacks the commercial success of Windows, and because most of the software is freeware, there's little profit for companies to throw software at it. The programs are still good though.

When I upgraded my computer, I was surprised that I couldn't access the internet with Ubuntu v7.10. After a few months of working it out, I eventually found a way, and hoped that a new Ubuntu distribution would incorporate my issue. I even lodged a bug report to assist Ubuntu with the problem.

I'm no Linux master. Far from it. I am an average computer user looking for an alternative to Windows Vista. Keep that in mind.

I want a system that just 'works' without the blue screens of death, viruses, and all those other things you hear about. I want something stable, and that's why I tried Ubuntu.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu seems to be going backwards, at least for my specifications. As I know nobody else that uses Linux, because their attitude is that it is for advanced computer nerds, I as left to my own devices. Regardless, I downloaded the recent 8.04 LTS version, deleted my 7.10, and installed from scratch.

The first thing I noticed was that it only mounted my Linux drive and not my other NTFS drives. Having multiple partitions over a terabyte of space made it difficult to constantly have to mount the drive when Linux installed. Surely I installed it wrong.

So, I installed it again, and the very same thing happened. And, still, I couldn't access the internet. Worse still, the solution I found for 7.10 no longer worked with 8.04.

After posting a question about these two issues on the Ubuntu forum hours after I had it installed and working from my Asus eee-PC laptop, I received a convoluted reply about mounting my drives on boot and a request that I post another request for the internet issue.

I'ved tried to switch people over to Ubuntu and some have been interested. When asked today how I went with my new installation, I had to shrug. They nodded and murmured, 'yeah - Linux'. It wasn't very positive.

So, here's my question. If the Linux community is trying to attract more people away from Windows, why are simple tasks like getting your hard drive to work when you turn your computer on and get access to the internet so complex? I've griped about Windows Vista for a while, but at least I can read e-mail and save files. I feel companies like Hewlett Packard have a responsibility to develop drivers to work under Linux when they throw out new hardware into the world, rather than having the end user having no choice but to use the pre-installed operating system (yeah, I'm talking Vista which is worse than #$^&#.

For now, I've switched back to Ubuntu 7.10, but what my future is with the operating system, is unknown. As much as I would like people to switch away from Windows, how can I recommend it when I'm having so many issues myself?

Although I wag my finger at the good people at Ubuntu for not mounting my drives on startup, I have to point the finger at Hewlett Packard for their incompatible choice of hardware for internet use under Linux distributions (I have since tried Mandriva and Mint). This hardware includes a version of Realtek ethernet, my TV card, and the full functionality of my 8.1 ready sound system. Perhaps these companies should pay attention and make drivers under Linux.

I would still like to say to people to at least try Ubuntu. At least on my older computer, it was very good although I do hope the next version of Ubuntu is compatible with my hardware.